Burlap Wreath!

I am extremely excited to share that my husband and I bought a house yesterday!  Fun story...In our purchase agreement, the owners asked for additional time past closing since we put an offer in not long after they put the house on the market. After all negotiations had been had, it was determined that they would get an additional 30 days once we signed the paper work. We were fine with it. They were fine with it. All hunky dory! Well, more exciting news. After signing the papers, they informed us that they had already found a place and should be out this weekend, leaving us 4 days to pack. Mind you, we have only just begun throwing some stuff in boxes, thinking we were getting ahead of the curve. Be prepared. This will be a breeze we said. Ha!  

Anyway, we came home from work all determined to get a bunch packed. Unfortunately, my husband had to run in to work- disaster averted, but he was gone the majority of the night, leaving me to pack alone. Unmotivated as I was, I found myself stalling. After finally convincing myself I had to do something, I packed both bathrooms. Don't worry, I left necessities. Then I remembered I had to do my post. So, telling myself I will be very motivated tomorrow...it's coming on the weekend...we have plenty of time...I decided to finish my first house project and do my post! 

I WILL be motivated tomorrow!

Now, as for the project, I am not going to give step by step only because I tried following the ones I saw online and I just started to get frustrated. I will tell you some things I found helpful.  Also, buy a lot of burlap. I went through much more than I thought I would. The other piece of advice is to twist the ribbon before starting your next loop. 

Quick tutorial:

1. Gather your supplies. 

2. Paint letter. Set aside to dry. 

3. Using wire, secure the ribbon to the inside of your wreath.

4. Slip the ribbon in the first loop. 

5. Behind, twist the ribbon and then feed through the second loop.

6. Again, in the the third loop.

7. Twist a couple times and bring the ribbon back down to the inside of the wreath and repeat.

8. Once you get to the end, secure with wire. 

9. Make bow.

10. Weave color of your choice in between.

11. Secure letter & bow and...

TA DA! :)

I know it sounds a little confusing. I hope the pictures will help some, but I found you just need to play with it. Keep in mind, it doesn't look great right away. Have some patience (thank goodness my friend was around when I started it! She kept me going. ; ) and have fun!

What you need:

90 ft of wired burlap ribbon- Yes, I used all 90 ft!

Accent color ribbon of choice

wire wreath

paint colors

wooden letter

ribbon or string to attach letter

wire

scissors

paint brushes 

QTips (I used these to make the dots on the M)

   

Popsicle Stick Puzzles

If you are looking for a fun and creative craft, look no further!  After spending an evening at a "Paint Night" party with my cousins and aunt, I was still in the mood to paint. :)   

When I realized we needed to come up with a craft to do at work the next day, my eye landed on an ice cream bucket filled with these craft sticks.  I remembered seeing popsicle stick puzzles all over pinterest, so we decided to go with it!  Rather than pasting a photo over the sticks we decided to pull out our selection of acrylic paints instead.

1. First we arranged the amount of sticks we wanted to use snugly together, then carefully taped them with some masking tape.

2. Then we flipped them over to have the clean slate for our "art."

3. Next, we painted them!

4. They dried pretty quickly so we separated them once we were done painting so that they wouldn't be stuck together when fully dried.

5.  When the puzzle is completely dry, you mix up the sticks and put it together!

Here are the puzzles we made (& named!), from left to right:

Alaskan White Out

Summer Breeze

Autumn Bliss

Japanese Sunset

Four Seasons

Japanese Cherry Blossom

Love Birds

Apple Orchard

***To make it fun, we took a picture of each puzzle then printed a color copy of it.  We stored each puzzle with the picture so that we would know what we were trying to achieve when playing with these puzzles! So much fun! :)

Healthy Zucchini Muffins

Once of the best things about the end of summer is collecting all of the wonderful fruits and vegetables fresh from the garden and orchard.  The hubs and I live in an apartment so we don't have our own garden, but we have been lucky enough to get fresh produce from my parents and grandparents.  They have been stocking us up with raspberries, cherries, green beans, peas, zucchini, summer squash, cucumbers, and sweet corn!

We had a large zucchini sitting on the counter so, while Tony was out golfing, I decided to do some baking with it.  I absolutely love zucchini bread, but I didn't want to load it with oil or butter like most recipes call for.  I tweaked a few recipes that I found to make this healthier version of the beloved zucchini bread.  The pictures really don't do them justice!  They are so flavorful and moist!

Don't be afraid to make substitutions if you don't have certain ingredients.  You could replace the chia egg with a regular egg, the almond milk with cows milk, whole wheat pastry flour with all-purpose flour, etc.  They are great served warm with a little butter or cooled.

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:

1 2/3 c. whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 c. oats 

Wet Ingredients:

1/2 c. maple syrup

1/2 c. almond milk

1/4 c. applesauce

1 chia egg*

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. loosely packed, grated zucchini

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, and wet ingredients in another.

Pour dry ingredients into the zucchini mixture and stir just until combined.

Scoop into lined or greased muffin tins.

Sprinkle a little oats on top for fun, if you'd like.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

*To make a chia egg: Mix 1 tablespoon of chia seeds with 3 tablespoons of water, then let rest to "gel up" for about 15 minutes before using.

Peanut Butter & Date Protein Balls

Recently my husband asked me if I could pick up some protein bars for him next time I'm at the store.  Of course, me being me, I wanted to try a homemade version before throwing money into commercial bars that have unnecessary "filler" ingredients.

Using caloriecount.com's recipe analyzer, we were able to choose a recipe with a high protein and fiber content and very little sodium.  The sodium and protein content will vary depending on the brand of peanut butter and fiber/protein powder you use.  We used Full Circle Organic Creamy Unsweetened Peanut Butter (only contains peanuts and salt!) and Garden of Life Raw Fiber (Beyond Organic Fiber) powder.  Using these ingredients, the recipe analyzer says one serving of these little protein balls contains 7.8 grams of fiber and 9.2 grams of protein!

Combining only four ingredients in a food processor will get you on your way.

Blend until it's all well combined.

Make sure the texture is firm enough to hold its shape, adjusting ingredients if needed.

Roll into balls and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Peanut Butter & Date Protein Balls

Recipe adapted from Vegan Family Recipes

Recipe makes 10 servings.

Ingredients

10 tablespoons (1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp) organic natural peanut butter, creamy

12 dates, pitted

4 tsp. chia seeds, ground

2 level scoops raw fiber powder (Garden of Life brand)

Directions

Blend all ingredients in food processor until well combined.

Using a small scoop, form into 20 balls.

Homemade Strawberry "Ice cream"

Finding simple, quick recipes is my goal right now. Something cheap and yummy, but tastes good. While scrolling through Facebook, I saw this idea. Three ingredients?  That sounds quick and cheap.  Deciding to try it didn't take too much of an effort as it said strawberries and ice cream and, did I mention, three ingredients!

This is a great snack to prepare with kids. Mine happens to be 30 something and 6 feet tall, but he's my kid. ;)

So grab your few ingredients and make yourself a treat!

Thank you bestrecipebox.com!

Homemade Strawberry "Ice cream"

1 pound of cleaned strawberries

1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk

16 oz of cold heavy whipping cream

This recipe is so easy, you can probably tell what to do by my "fabulous" pictures. ;) But just in case you need a little direction, here you go:

1. Set a few strawberries aside for decoration.

2. Mash the rest and set aside. I used fresh strawberries and left all the juice for flavor.

3. In a mixer, add your whipping cream and sweetened condensed milk and blend until stiff peaks. 

4. Pour in a container of your choice.

5. Garnish and freeze.

3- 4 hours you'll have "soft serve"

4-6 hours you'll obviously have "not soft serve"

Enjoy!

Crock Pot Salsa

My husband and I are huge fans of chips and dip.  Our first choice is always salsa with tortilla chips.  We generally like our salsa with a little heat, but as long as the flavor is there, we'll eat it!

My parents make homemade salsa every year and I love the way that you can control the levels of heat and spices when you make it yourself.  They can theirs in mason jars, but when I decided to make a batch, I didn't have any mason jars available.  Deciding to make it anyway, I chose to try a batch in the crock pot, then freeze it in ziplocs.  It worked so well!  We just pull a package out to thaw when we want some chips & salsa.  We've also used it to bump up the flavor in some pasta dishes and to top off some yummy tacos.

Ingredients

4 lb. tomatoes, quartered & core removed

5 tsp. garlic paste

2 onions, quarters

6 fresh jalapenos, ends cut off, halved & seeds removed

4 green onions

1 tsp. salt

1/2 c. fresh cilantro, chopped

2 Tbsp. canned jalapenos, chopped

garlic powder, to taste

chili powder, to taste 

Directions

Combine tomatoes, garlic paste, onions, and fresh jalapenos in a crockpot.

Cook on high for 2 1/2-3 hours, stirring as necessary.

Remove lid and allow to cool for at least 1 hour.

Add the green onions and the salt.

Carefully scoop some into the blender and blend to desired consistency.

Pour into a large bowl.

Continue with remaining mixture until it is all blended.

Cover and refrigerate until completely cool.

Stir in cilantro, canned jalapenos, and sprinkle in some garlic powder and chili powder.

Stir in up and taste.

Add more seasonings or salt, if needed, to reach desired flavor/heat level.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, or divide portions into freezer bags to freeze.

When quartering the tomatoes, I just cut the hard core out and left the seeds in.  If you're opposed to "seedy salsa", just scoop the "guts" out, too. :)

Be sure to wear gloves and not touch your face when cutting the jalapenos.

Use your judgement when deciding on the peppers.  Use more for extra heat, less for a more mild salsa.  You could even experiment with different types of hot peppers to find your favorite!

Combine tomatoes, garlic paste, onions, and fresh jalapenos in a crockpot.

Cook on high for 2 1/2-3 hours, stirring as necessary.

The pot gets pretty full, but don't worry about it.  It cooks down a lot!

Remove lid and allow to cool for at least 1 hour.

Add the green onions and the salt.

I left the onion stems whole since they will just get chopped in the blender.  Less work is better! :)

Carefully scoop some into the blender and blend to desired consistency.

Pour into a large bowl.

Continue with remaining mixture until it is all blended.

Cover and refrigerate until completely cool.

Stir in cilantro, canned jalapenos, and sprinkle in some garlic powder and chili powder.

Stir in up and taste.

Add more seasonings or salt, if needed, to reach desired flavor/heat level.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, or divide portions into freezer bags to freeze.

Or just take a bowl outside to enjoy while appreciating the view.  :)

Laminated Place-mats

My sister Renae did this project with my younger siblings and me.

 If you don't have a laminator, you might want to get one! They come in handy for a lot of things! :)

These place mats are awesome to use for little kids!  You can do it at any time of the year, too.

They are great in the fall for Thanksgiving!

 

 

 All you Need:
leaves
color crayons
paper
laminator
laminator sheet


1. You gather leaves!

2. Stack two pieces of paper, and put your leaves sandwiched between two papers.
 (Remember to put the leaves upside down so the ribs are facing up!)

3. Peel the paper off the crayon, lay it on it's side, and color lightly over the spot the leaf is under!
(It doesn't matter how many leaves you choose to use, try not to let the papers shift well you are coloring.)

4. Put the colored piece of paper through the laminator according to your laminator instructions!

 

And there's your Place-mat!
Enjoy NO stains!